This week's perspectives from Bob Reid:
The dust had barely settled regarding the outrage around the granting of a pardon for a convicted sex offender when Prime Minister Stephen Harper stirred the pardon pot all over again by noting that school-girl sex killer Karla Homolka might also be eligible for such an amnesty under the existing guidelines. The mere mention of her name generates national headlines, and Harper knew exactly what he was doing by playing that card. By raising the spectre himself, Harper was able to get in front of the issue and use it to position himself as a champion of changing the rules – had someone else brought it to the fore, it would have been a problem for the PM to have to grapple with, another issue to manage. Some commentators denounced the move as “cynical” (hello John Moore!), yet even they will admit that Harper got exactly the kind of media mileage out of it that he wanted. Touchdown.
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